


First or Worse

by Anonymous



Category: Jelle's Marble Runs (Web Series)
Genre: Gender-Neutral Marbles, Marble League 2020, Morning After, Other, Scandal, Team-cest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24930223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: 1) Hazy does remember the events of last night.2) It's just that Hazy just doesn't want to square with them.3) Hazy doesn't get a choice.
Relationships: Foggy/Hazy/Shore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: Anonymous





	First or Worse

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bump and Run](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24842653) by Anonymous. 



Hazy felt like they were underwater, struggling to get to the surface, pulled down by the undertow almost in slow motion, sinking slowly like dead weight. All they could think was the team needed them. The team needed them and here they would instead sink ignominiously to the ocean floor. 

It was with a jolt that Hazy woke up from the nightmare. Relief was short-lived, however, as Hazy’s mind began to sort dream from reality and put everything back into order. Hazy considered, for a moment, just staying in bed, perhaps skipping the rest of the Marble League, perhaps riding the dream wave back to certain doom, before accepting that was overly dramatic and dropping to the floor instead, rolling into the common dorm area. Shore was there sprawled out on the couch with a beer, listlessly watching a program on sea turtles. 

“Heyyy.”

The look on Hazy’s face must have been something because Shore took full offense.

“Dude, you could tone down the disgust. You’re not at your best in the mornings either.”

“It’s not that. Ugh,” Hazy rubbed their temples. “Did Foggy leave already?”

Shore nodded in answer, tilting back and forth. It took a moment before it clicked. “Oh, that’s what’s got you out of sorts?”

Fine words from the instigator of all this. 

No, to be fair, Hazy thought, it wasn’t entirely on Shore. Hazy and Foggy had run into Shore as they were leaving the weight training area the evening before. Shore’s teammates had gone out to a party hosted in their honor at a massive marble mansion on the outskirts of town (part of some brand deal Shore said). Shore, of course, not being the kind of marble who cared for sucking up to sponsors, stayed behind to do more laps in the pool. They had invited Hazy and Foggy back for a chill evening—easily accepted by both since the Hazers didn’t have team training scheduled until late the next day anyway. 

Shooting the breeze with Shore watching Whose Lime is it Anyway? reruns and having a few—nothing wrong there, right?—but Hazy always forgot what a frisky drunk Shore was. They’d moved to Shore’s room after a couple of noise complaints, booting up Next Top Marble on Shore’s tablet instead. Trading dumb commentary over it was harmless in the scheme of things, until Shore, who’d lost their second wind and fallen out of the commentary cycle, flopped over onto Hazy and started rubbing. It was then things began to get out of hand. It wasn’t unwelcome exactly. Shore and Hazy had gotten up to their share before. But Hazy still had made a token effort to push them away, looking awkwardly to Foggy who was leaning against the wall opposite. Foggy, however, was pretty outside of it, just mellowly observing. 

It wasn’t entirely Shore’s fault precisely because when Foggy had said, “Don’t stop on my account,”...yeah, that really got Shore undulating, but Hazy wasn’t immune either. Having someone watch them like that—it was intense, exciting even, at the time. As things got hot and heavy, Foggy seemed perfectly content to play the voyeur, and Hazy kind of just, got swept up in the mood of the moment. But it couldn’t stay like that forever. It wasn’t very long before Shore steered Foggy into the mix of things, and the two Hazers found themselves with an enthusiastic Shore sandwiched between them, getting their marbles off in an uncoordinated threesome. They didn’t last long.

It wasn’t entirely Shore’s fault, but...

“Well, how ’bout a breakfast shot?” Shore pushed over a pair of shot glasses. 

Hazy broke off from their regret-filled reverie. “Not sure that’s gonna bleach away last night.”

“Hey, last night was a good time, even if you get hung up over things like, eh, breaking one of the cardinal rules of motorollersports.”

“Don’t rub it in, dude.” 

“Wouldn’t do that to you, Hazy,” Shore said as they filled up the glasses with lemon juice and blue curaçao. “Go on, it’ll wash away the nerves.” 

Hazy sighed and took the shot in turns, while Shore poured out one for themself.

As Shore finished taking the shot and set down the glasses with a clunk, Hazy said despairingly, “I don’t feel better.”

“You worry too much. Sure, team morale’s a precarious beast, but like, it happens?”

“Does it?”

“’Course it does.”

Hazy eyed Shore suspiciously. “Have you...?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t but, like last night probably doesn’t even count for you guys. It’s not really teamcest if balls don’t touch.”

“Yeah?” said Hazy hopefully.

“I’d say so.” Shore lazily rolled to look in the fridge and tossed a protein shake at Hazy. Hazy just managed to stop its momentum. Shore came back over with their own and flopped down on the brown lego couch.

“Seriously, you’re overthinking it. Like, look at the Crazy Cat’s Eyes. Pretty sure they only roll with each other, if you know what I mean.”

“What? Really?”

“Oh yeah. I remember trying to chat up Cyan Eye after funnel endurance in the qualifiers and like, Red Eye comes along and drags them away lecturing the whole time. I swear to glassblower I caught the words, “Don’t fuck outsiders.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. The cult vibes are real. I’ve always been suspicious of the desert commune thing. Oh sorry, ‘training dunes.’”

“And you were still trying to score with one?”

“I mean, every one of them’s a hot piece of glass though. Explains how they made it into the logo. The committee knows what sells.”

“Is that why?”

“It’s definitely why. Come on, wouldn’t you?”

Hazy took a swig of the protein shake. “I might.”

“That’s the Hazy I know. And like I said. Literally proof it could be weirder. You kinda sorta fucked one teammate, it’s not the end of the world.” 

Very, very quietly, Haze mumbled, “...two.”

“...”

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m not looking at you like that.”

“You are.”

“I told you, you’re way overthinking it. Just pull yourself together and like, buy everyone pizza after the League's over and I’m sure it’s all water under the Gravitrax, everyone thinks you’re a great captain again and forgets the downward spiral you’ve been on since Marbula One.”

“I have not been on a downward spiral.”

“Oh yeah, and who was the other teammate you rolled with?”

“Ugh, that’s it. I’m out of here. Thanks for nothing.”

Shore laughed. “Don’t let the starting gate hit you on the way out. Really, Hazy. Sometimes you’ve just gotta ride the wave. Let it go, y’know?”

“Strong words coming from an Oceanic.”

Smoggy didn’t look up as Hazy entered the training room where the rest of the team was getting ready. Foggy also seemed to be looking anywhere else. Hazy decided there was nothing for it and just went straight into captain mode. A different Hazy for a different time. It worked, in its way, throughout warmups, until an uncharacteristically late Smokey charged into the gym.

“Hazy. Foggy. I need to speak with you. You,” the coach said, rolling over to Hazy. “You’re going first.” 

Apprehension followed Hazy all the way back to the locker room where Coach Smokey closed the door behind them with finality before stating, “As captain, I expected better of you.”

Was making devastating statements to impressionable young marbles in the middle of the biggest athletic competition of the year somehow a winning strategy, the part of Hazy that had completely disassociated from the moment thought. 

The part that hadn’t nervously asked, “Coach, what’s this about?”

“You haven’t heard, or you don’t remember? Just a blur is it?”

“Haven’t heard what?”

Coach Smokey fished out their phone and held it out for Hazy to take.

“This got leaked from a private instagranite account earlier today. Lagoon’s been trying to get it pulled down, but...” Smokey huffed loudly.

Hazy looked with disbelief at the selfie of a sparkling Shore, one that must've been taken in the early morning. There was glimpse of Hazy and Foggy on either side, nothing below the diameter of course, but there was no easy way to explain away where they clearly were, never mind the cheeky caption.

Leaked from a private account, struggling to get it pulled down...the scope of it hit Hazy with the force of a ten-marble pile-up in an S-bend. 

Vibrating with frustration, Hazy swore under their breath. “I’m going to drown that glorified rock in their hometown pool.”


End file.
